Sector 17 Plaza was really the heart of the City Beautiful in 2000. People from even neighbouring states used to come to the sector for shopping. I still remember families leaving their kids in the open area to play and going for shopping. A sense of security prevailed in the minds of parents. People used to enjoy softy and popcorn. All Sector 17 traders were part of a family.
With the changing time, malls and multiplexes came up in the city. Sector 17 traders not only faced challenges from them but from street vendors too.
While shopkeepers were competing with malls, vendors turned Sector 17 into a ‘phari’ market. It was a double blow.
A vendor used to play flute in front of our shop—Bombay Traders. His kids grew up and set up different stalls in front of our shops to sell various items. Honestly speaking, he sub-let our shop fronts to his sonsin-law. This is not the only example, there were a number of such cases in Sector 17 and this is how number of vendors started increasing in Sector 17.
While some vendors were poor, many were of criminal background, who further started sub-letting spaces and collecting ‘hafta’ from others.
In all these years, even the municipal corporation had turned its blind eye towards these vendors, ultimately making Sector 17 Plaza a vendors’ market. People had stopped visiting Sector 17 market because of the vendors.
But with the intervention of the Punjab and Haryana high court and Supreme Court, the authorities, including Chandigarh administration and municipal corporation, finally carried out an eviction drive of vendors and once again made Sector 17 a vendorfree zone. Let’s hope it will continue to be like this.
Sanjiv Mahajan, owner of Bombay Traders and adviser of Chandigarh Beopar Mandal
